7 other ways of cooking parsnips
When you roast mixed root vegetables in the oven it is a common sight to see guests – if allowed to serve themselves – hoarding all the parsnips. It is no secret that this mode of cooking does wonders with this humble root.
But there is so much more you can do with this sweet and tasty vegetable. Below you will find seven inspiring suggestions.
But first:
- Young, tender parsnips don’t need peeling. Scrubbing them clean will do. And serve whole.
- Older, coarser parsnips need peeling.
- Parsnips usually lose their springiness after about a week in the vegetable compartment in the fridge.
1. Deep fried parsnip sticks with parmesan
Think pommes frites, but swap the potatoes for parsnips. What you want is a hot, crispy exterior and a delicious, mushy core. Sticks from bigger, coarser parsnips may need some boiling before being deep fried in oil.
To make things extra elegant: Roll the sticks in a mixture of polenta and grated parmesan before submerging them in the oil.
2. Parsnip hash browns / pancakes
Hash browns are underrated, especially if you consider all the other available root vegetables besides potatoes. The original idea is to press a patty – or a wider, thinner pancake – from shredded potato (and all the sticky starch that goes with it), but you can replace up to half of the potato with something else (or the stickiness will be insufficient). Parsnip, for example.
Fry it in butter ”like usual”.
3. Salted, caramelised, whole parsnips
Topping sticky, sweet caramel with a little salt is a common trick in the world of desserts. This technique can also be applied in the savoury kitchen as sugar does a great job of bringing out the flavor in parsnips. Heat the – preferably small, tender, and whole – parsnips in butter and sugar. The caramelized result goes well with almost anything – not least a glass of wine. Garnish with salt crystals just before serving.
4. Cauliflower soup with parsnips
Cauliflower and parsnips are taste buddies. Cook them in vegetable broth and mix into a silky smooth soup. If you want, flavor (or garnish) with green chili and fresh coriander. You might also consider ginger, turmeric, and/or fennel seeds to get more flavor and more color.
5. Bruschetta with parsnip puré
The rather colorless, wrinkly root reaches new levels of sophistication if you turn it into a puré – made from peeled and carefully roasted parsnips with lots of butter – served on a toast ”Italian style”. Garnish with rocket/arugula, an intensive olive oil, and grated parmesan.
6. Parsnip mash with curry
Old fashioned curry powder goes well with parsnip. One way of uniting the two is in a fluffy mash. It might not be the most elegant concoction in the world, but the mash – okay, we can say puré – is wonderful with grilled chicken or your middle of the week fish.
7. Parsnip and maple syrup in your dessert
Just a flavor hint: Parsnips and maple syrup are passionate are in a relationship. Find every excuse to slip some parsnip into American pancakes (see, for example, puré above), or in a pecan pie (see caramelised parsnips), or in a carrot cake (where parsnip replaces carrot and maple syrup replaces sugar). The result might not be technically perfect, but it will be delicious. Give it a try!
Read more about an underrated root vegetable: Parsnips